• by Jordan Harris , August 4, 2010

"I'm not ready to think about going back to school!" That exclamation came not from one of my children, but by my wife Lisa, while going through the newspaper inserts in early July. We should have seen it coming, knowing that the Independence Day sales were only a memory, and that back-to-school ones, which follow on its heels, is the second-largest shopping event of the year, per the National Retail Federation.

 

Since our Sunday morning realization, I can't avoid the back-to-school reminders within TV shows and commercials, in the stores and even among postings from real Facebook friends. (Cousin Wendy's status message about Target's back-to-school brochure received 11 comments.)

Over breakfast the following weekend, I explained to my now-somewhat-impatient wife that 70% of back-to-school shopping takes place at least 3 weeks before classes begin and that some students return to school in early August.

While she was less enthusiastic than I anticipated, she agreed that the valuable summer savings outweighed the heat as a perfect time to drag our boys to try on long-sleeve shirts and slacks. Marketers can extend the value of their media and effectively impact value-conscious moms by executing summer-specific communications programs.

*Big Business for Marketers, Big Value for Mom

This year, with some cautious optimism in the economy, the NRF estimates that $55B will be spent on items for the upcoming school year and students going off to college. Yet as a result of the recession, moms shopping for back-to-school products will continue to look for values; being a more "purposeful" shopper is now a way of life.

*TV Valued By Marketers, Consumers

In 2009, the Association of National Advertisers found that "TV remained atop the standings when [marketers] were asked to say which media are effective for building brand equity." This year, a Knowledge Networks survey showed that "people spend significantly more time with television than with any other medium, and television maintains the highest reach."

As one would expect, moms who frequent back-to-school retailers are regular viewers of television. Research on which types of shows they're watching could easily be found by analyzing the available data.

*TV: Summer Viewing Is Different

It's important to recognize that television is watched differently during the summer vs. the rest of the year; particularly during prime time. In summer 2009 (June-August), network prime-time ratings for moms dropped 35% from May. This has great implications from a cost perspective, since CPMs declined only 14%, according to Kantar estimates. For advertisers looking to achieve high ratings and reach with relative efficiencies, they may want to do their homework and look beyond network prime.

Recognizing reduced competition from prime time during the summer, the cable networks have built their premiere schedules around the summer. However, mom is not watching. This June, for example, only two shows out of over 1,600 cable originals received a 1.0 rating among moms.

Retailers competing for an increased share of back-to-school spending will need to work harder to get mom into their store. The reality is that their commercials may not even be seen. Viewers with DVRs can record the programs, skip through the commercials or delay viewing until after the sales event.

High-rated shows and shows watched live, like syndication's sitcoms and dramas, will work hard for advertisers as they do consistently through the year. Syndication is the ratings leader over network prime and cable throughout the back-to-school period.

So before we buy more No. 2 pencils than a child can wear down in a lifetime, consider how moms view television during the back-to-school period. While television is watched all year long -- yes, even in the summer -- there are different ratings leaders that retailers can leverage to drive store traffic and sales among value conscious moms.

In the meantime, please email me if you need a pencil.